I assume you mean the WWL-1 lens.
If you take out the molded foam from that case, the lens will fit inside already in its flotation collar, so you can leave the collar on and not have to keep mounting/unmounting it.

I used 2 different large backpacks and both worked fine.
As hauling around 40 lbs of photo gear, laptop, chargers, disks, d800 + prime lenses is rather annoying to my back so i got a trolley.
I can fit all my photo gear, disks and chargers plus my 17'' ZBook in it, don't have to carry it on my back.
Housing and arms goes in a Pelicase inside the dive suitcase.

Lately as the carry on laws get harder and harder i don't carry anymore my D800 hugyfot rig around the world,
my Lumix LX-100 is enough quality for my simple needs.
Eben if that bothers me a lot ....

Definitely a 'max' size bag, fits a ton a stuff, and I've flown successfully with it all but once. Cathay Pacific got me with a weight limit of the bag empty! So I carried gear on my person (photo vest stuffed full, sling camera) and swapped housing to my gf's carry on etc. Took the bag on the plane almost empty.

I do find the sides like to bow out so I have a pair of straps I wrap around it between check in and boarding so it doesn't look too big.

Lowepro Whistler 450:

Just got this free, great Lowepro warranty, and agree with Aotus that it's heavy but carries well. Gear capacity is maybe 2/3 of the Think Tank roller + has outer compartment too. While no laptop slot, my 15" fits perfect in that outer 'wet' compartment, but I'd remove it before laying a loaded bag down to access gear. Works while flying though with a small laptop bag packed in my suitcase.

Its surprisingly narrow but its designed to carry skis etc on the sides. But that meant, when boarding late, I fit it fully loaded into a tiny overhead space last flight while people with much smaller rollers were lugging them back to the jetway to gate check on the full flight. Massive win.

Bonus: The camera box can be removed. Next non-photo trip I may use it as a normal bag. I've also seen someone put the box into a normal small roller, converting it to a camera roller for travel.

Kata CC-195:

Seems this no longer exists and Kata's been absorbed by Manfrotto. Designed as a pro camcorder bag, its shape is brilliant with a square cross section, and fits a 9" dome standing up as well as my laptop (in a padded sleeve) laying on top of the dividers holding the housing/strobes etc. Just wish it was a roller, would be my go-to for travel with the dome.

I also have 2 old Pelicans (I think 1550) that I don't travel with but are great for the boat here, where I do most of my diving/photo. Wish they were rollers though. Seriously would consider the 1510 or 1535Air.

Personal item is either Lowpro Flipside 300 (older version) or Photo Sport 200. The flipside is my go-to daily small camera bag (handles an slr + pro lens trinity very well). The Photo Sport is great for mirrorless gear or a subset of dslr gear. Fully expanded it can carry a ton of stuff, even my 15" laptop, yet it can be cinched down super small for activities like skiing.

Cheers,

Chris

Edit: Just thinking about this. Of the 3 bags I described, all can fit straight-in into an overhead bin, but the Think Tank (and rollers in general) are wide, taking up a lot of space across the bin while leaving a big gap between the top of the bag and the top of the bin. The CC-195 and Whistler both have rather square cross sections utilizing the space all the way to the top of the overhead bin and much less width across the bin. This can easily be the difference between having to gate check or not on a full flight.

Over the past couple of years I’ve been on several US domestic flights where passengers assigned to later boarding groups were compelled to check in all roller cases at the gate. As I’m unwilling to pay for business class or first class tickets, often at many times the price of economy fares, I chose to retire my well used Pelican roller case and replaced it with a Think Tank Airport Commuter back pack. Both cases have the same dimensions and carrying capacity, and I’ve yet to have my backpack challenged during check in or by a gate agent. If and when that occurs, I’ll have to revert to the usual “plan B”; the ugly photo vest and cargo pants. While I much prefer the roller case, especially when I’ve got long layovers at large airports where I generally walk for several miles, I’m willing to make the switch in order to best protect my most valuable fragile items, (though I tend to start listing slightly to the left after walking around for a while).

I assume you mean the WWL-1 lens.
If you take out the molded foam from that case, the lens will fit inside already in its flotation collar, so you can leave the collar on and not have to keep mounting/unmounting it.

Tried it, didn’t fit. That’s fine though, because in the lowepro backpack it is super protected. I considered using your trick anyway to reduce the chance that I do something stupid while opening the bag, but since it doesn’t fit, I used one of the dividers to add a layer over the lens before closing it. That way I have to un-Velcro the flap to remove the lens, even after the bag is opened. In the pic below I am holding back another Velcro flap over the center strobe (the flap over the lens is removed here).

Tried it, didn’t fit. That’s fine though, because in the lowepro backpack it is super protected. I considered using your trick anyway to reduce the chance that I do something stupid while opening the bag, but since it doesn’t fit, I used one of the dividers to add a layer over the lens before closing it. That way I have to un-Velcro the flap to remove the lens, even after the bag is opened. In the pic below I am holding back another Velcro flap over the center strobe (the flap over the lens is removed here).

Odd. Mine fits fine. Had to "round the square" to make it work, but no problem doing it. Either your float ring is bigger or your case is smaller than mine, I guess.

Could any tell me if they make a semi hard case that can be both carried as well as rolling? I'm currently on my first big underwater photography trip and with all my gear it looks like trying to carry everything between my wife and myself is going to be to much. If anyone knows if a place in Bali I can purchase a case from even better otherwise I might try to use lazada. Thanks again for the help.

I just got a Nanak 935 roller hard case from Amazon. It got better reviews than the Pelican and so far seems very rugged. I’m still playing around with organization but I think I’ll be able to fit everything but maybe my arms, especially if I get the lid organizer.

Interests:Sunlight reefs, warm seas, good food and fine wine. And Manchester City Football Club.

Posted 17 July 2018 - 07:16 AM

Hi Frederick

It'd be worth doing a search on this. It comes up from time to time.

There's usually a split view: some folks do, others argue that there is a risk of a sudden shock possibly damaging either the slide mechanism that holds the camera in the housing or the screw fitting holding the camera.

Personally, I pack a camera in the housing if I'm REALLY loaded with gear. Which, if I'm honest with myself, is the usual. I do pad it out with some bubble wrap. so it's pretty solid in there.

Ive always packed to camera in the housing, to save valuable space. Ive only once incurred what I thought mightve been an issue linked to this practice... I was really short on room, so I left the 4 WA port attached to my Nauticam EM-5 housing and somewhere along six flights two of the tabs on the bayonet ring on the port became damaged, I think likely from a hard drop of the Pelican case onto its lid (the case was in checked baggage).... doh!
Whilst I still keep the camera body in the housing, Ive made adjustments to separate the lenses and ports, from the rest of the rig. Hopefully, Ive learned from my own mistakes.... hopefully.... LOL

I also recently packed my D500 inside my housing, seemed ok as I had it in my Lowepro roller/backpack hybrid.

The only thing I'm really worried about when transporting the camera with the housing is the latch that is attached to the camera itself. The housing seems fairly robust, but a big concern is that if it does get shocks/jolts, you're relying on a bit of plastic clamp to keep the housing in place, and that's a lot of strain on plastic.

As others have suggested, if you're able to pad the housing out a little bit (so components aren't overly squeezed!) that may help.

FYI I ended up going for the: Lowepro pro runner rl x450 aw ii - it's a backpack roller hybrid, and it's great! A bit tight on space due to the roller element, so I had to screw off the ball mounts on the arms of the housing. Apart from that it's brilliant, I was rolling 90% of the time on my previous trip, and the rest of the time I just put it on my shoulders.

On my most recent trip to HI (two of the islands) via Portland and San Diego on the outbound I used a TT roller for most of the UW camera parts which made it quite heavy (heavier than my two check-ins - the weight was due strobe arms, connectors, batteries as well as the UW strobes, housing, and ports) but I was able to place it in the overhead of 737s on all my flights (one was a 717 - HI inter-island). I come up with 9 flights total. However I did NOT take it on the day-boats which have limited bag space. A few of the day trips were on 28' boats - they do not even want scuba gear bags on those - but I was able to back my rental car right up to the boat while it was on a trailer to on- and off-load (I bring all my gear save tanks and lead). I put the complete UW setup into a soft bag (which flew inside a larger bag) which fit under the seats when empty (during dives). I also had a small backpack for my 15" laptop, second body and a few lenses as carry-on. I brought it on the day boats for topside pix, some backups, and spare batteries- it went on top of the camera table when available. Otherwise it went into the focsle when I was not using it.